Mere minutes after our tryst with the policeman, we slowed to a stop. Just eight feet away from us, a colony of sambar deer were enjoying a lunch of leaves fresh off a tree, and giving the strange shiny silver object that was our car some inquisitive glances. After we had got some clicks in, we pressed forward, and, lo and behold, a colony of spotted deer on the other side of the road. Everyone from baby doe to papa deer with massive horns was present and correct.
As are the predators that make a meal out of the aforementioned species of deer and others at Sasan Gir – the lions. It isn’t easy spotting the king of beasts, though, even when you venture deep into the heart of his terrain. Your best bet is to head to Talala and hire a Gypsy for a three-hour safari tour of the forest. It works out to about Rs 400 per head, but you need to be in a group of four to six people, or wait till enough other stragglers join in to complete your complement. Other animals that you get to see at Gir, that I can personally attest to seeing, are wild boars and peacocks, one of which flew right across the path while were driving through, majestic as only the national bird can be.
Having jungle-d around enough, we took our leave of Sasan Gir, and pushed on for a further 90 km to Junagadh, which would be our rest stop for the night. The first 20 odd kilometres were a bit rough, but the road became smooth thereafter and stayed decent all the way till Leo’s Resort, where we stayed over the night. If you’re going down this route in particular, you might find a singular building just outside the city, a ‘Groundnut Research Centre.’ Why the innocent groundnut needs a whole facility to be experimented upon is beyond my reckoning, but there it is.
